Karina's Tears
by RobertDowneyJrLove
Summary: When his daughter Karina comes home in tears, Tony Stark gets the shock of his life. song-fic. Karina Anne Stark belongs to me...oh and Pepper is her mother.


"Daddy, Daddy!"

Tony Stark smiled as he caught his little girl in his arms and hoisted her up, his brown eyes searching out his daughter's wide, innocent brown eyes. The tears in her eyes shocked him as she stared at him, obviously sad and upset about something.

"Hey little girl, what's the matter?" Tony asked his daughter softly, gently brushing her cheek with the back of his fingers.

"It's Lyssa," Four year old, Karina Anne Stark told him.

_My little girl met a new friend,  
just the other day,  
on the playground at school  
between the tires and the swings _

"Do you mean the little girl you met on the playground the other day?" Tony asked her softly.

Karina nodded, looping her thin arms around her father's neck as he readjusted her to get a better look at her face.

"Kari, what happened to Alyssa, baby?" Tony asked her softly.

_But she came home with tear-filled eyes,  
and she said to me "Daddy, Alyssa lies" _

She looked up at him with tear-filled brown eyes and told him, "Daddy, Alyssa lies."

_Well I just brushed it off at first,  
'cause I didn't know how much my little girl had been hurt  
or the things she had seen.  
I wasn't ready when I said "You can tell me" _

He gently wiped her face and brushed her thick curls, "Let's go home, get you out of this uniform and then we'll talk about it."

He didn't know what his little girl had seen that day or how much the events she had witnessed hurt her. He set her down and led her to his car, helping her in before getting in and driving them home.

Twenty minutes later, Karina was out of her uniform and resting comfortably on her father's lap. He was most definitely wasn't ready when he said, "You can tell me, baby."

_and she said... _

_"Alyssa lies to the classroom,  
Alyssa lies everyday at school,  
Alyssa lies to the teachers  
as she tries to cover every bruise"_

Tony sat there stunned and just as hurt as his little girl as he listened to Karina explain why Alyssa lies and what she had seen on her friend.

"Hey little girl, look at me." Tony told her when she finished her explanation. When he had her attention, he continued. "I'm going to do everything in my power to help Alyssa, but in order to do that, you have to tell me more, I need to know who you think hurts her."

"Her Daddy," Karina looked up at her father, "Daddy, don't ever hurt me!"

"Never," Tony whispered as he pulled his daughter closer and kissed her head. "Never."

_My little girl laid her head down  
That night to go to sleep  
As I stepped out the room I heard her say  
A prayer so soft and sweet  
God bless my mom and my dad  
And my new friend Alyssa  
I know she needs it bad_

"Goodnight, baby." Tony whispered as he kissed her forehead, "Love you."

"Love you too, Daddy." Karina told him softly as she settled into the pink princess bed.

As he stepped outside the door, he could hear his daughter saying a soft, sweet prayer under her breath. "God bless my Mommy and my Daddy...and my new friend Alyssa...I know she really needs you bad."

Tony knew it too and if was left up to him, Alyssa would never be hurt again.

_Alyssa Lies  
To the classroom  
Alyssa lies  
Everyday at school  
Alyssa lies  
To the teacher  
As she tries to cover every bruise_

_I had the worst night of sleep in years  
As I tried to think of a way to calm her fears  
I knew just what it was I had to do  
But when we got to school on Monday I heard the news_

By the time Monday rolled around, Tony Stark was pretty sure he had never had a worse night of sleep. Saturday was spent researching ways to help an abused child and Sunday was spent trying to figure out which method to use that would save the little girl without scaring her. When he walked her into the school that morning, he immediately wanted to pick her up and carry her back out. The teachers and students all had tears in their eyes and Alyssa was nowhere to be found.

"What happened to Alyssa?" Tony asked his little girl's teacher.

"Alyssa died last night..her father.." She explained, trailing off as she tried to explain how the little girl died.

"It's okay...Karina told me...she saw the bruises on Alyssa." Tony shook his head as he looked at his daughter who was looking around at her friends.

_My little girl asked me why everybody looked so sad  
The lump in my throat grew bigger  
With every question that she asked  
Until I felt the tears run down my face  
And I told her that Alyssa wouldn't be at school today_

"Daddy?" Karina questioned, tugging at her father's leather clad arm. "Why does everyone look so sad?"

Tony brushed his daughter's face wih his hand as he kneeled down in front of her, "Baby girl, Alyssa won't be in school today."

"Why Daddy?" Karina asked him innocently.

Tony closed his eyes as he tried to think of a way to tell his daughter why her best friend wouldn't be in school that day.

_She doesn't lie  
In the classroom  
She doesn't lie  
Anymore at school  
Alyssa lies  
With Jesus  
Because there's nothing anyone would do_

"Because she doesn't lie anymore, Baby." Tony explained gently, "She doesn't lie in the classroom or at school...Baby Girl, Alyssa lies with Jesus..because nobody would do anything to help her."

"Why wouldn't they help her, Daddy? Why wouldn't someone help her?" Karina asked him, tears leaking out of her milk chocolate eyes.

"I don't know, Sweetheart." He whispered as he wrapped his arms around his little girl. "I don't know."

_Alyssa Lies  
To the classroom  
Alyssa lies  
Everyday at school  
Alyssa lies  
To the teacher  
As she tries to cover every bruise_

_Tears filled my eyes,  
When my little girl asked me why Alyssa lies_

_Daddy tell me why  
Alyssa lies_

"Why'd she have to lie, Daddy?" Karina asked him as he hoisted her up.

"I don't know, baby, maybe she didn't think anyone would help her." Tony told her softly before turning to her teacher, "I'm going to take her home."

As he walked out of the school, his baby girl cradled against his chest crying for her friend, he asked himself the same question she had asked him not seconds ago. He wanted the answers to questions and he wanted to know why someone would ever dream of hurting an innocent little girl.

"Why did Alyssa lie?" Tony whispered sadly.

Maybe he would never know the answer to that question, but he did know that his little girl had seen something that would forever change her. She had seen through Alyssa's lies, she had seen the bruises and had tried to help the little girl.

"Alyssa was lucky to have a friend like you, Kari."

* * *

**Woohooo! FINISHED! It took me two weeks to finish this story! Alyssa Lies by Jason Michael Carroll is such a sad, heart-wrenching song and unless you have the emotional strength to turn it up and listen to the full song while you write, it's hard to get through. I'm not naturally a very sensitive person but this song is powerful and heart-wrenching so I cry everytime I listen. I wrote a song-fic to this song for Gilmore Girls but I wanted to do it for Iron Man because it was such a powerful song and Tony Stark just strikes me as the kind of character who would try to help but would question it when he was too late. **

**As you know, I'm leaving for a temporary hiatus during the month of May-if you don't know, it's in my profile-so I figured I'd give you something to keep you busy until I come back. I might post a few more...we'll see. **

**Review, Favorite..do whateve with it, just don't steal it :) **

**Love ya forevah and a day, **

**RobertDowneyJrLove**

**(And on that note, I can safely conclude that I have watched too much Fran Drescher.) **


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